INF Treaty suspension: Prevent the deployment of new missiles

02.02.2019 US withdrawal from the INF Treaty by Donald Trump breaks with a proven arms control measure, and is thus exposing the world, and Europe in particular, to an irresponsible risk, according to criticism today from ICAN’s partner organisations ICAN Germany and IPPNW in response to the statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington

Stop Funding the End of the World – Don’t Bank on the Bomb

21.01.2019 In September 2018 the Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland (DBOTB Scotland) campaign group published a guide for divestment from nuclear weapons entitled ‘Stop Funding the End of the World: Working to eliminate nuclear weapons through divestment – A Guide for Scotland’, written by Linda Pearson.The guide was launched as part of the Nae Nukes international series of events in Scotland including a march and demonstration at Faslane in September 2018.

Nuclear Power Revealed as “Ambition Killer” at Global Climate Summit

20.12.2018 The Don’t Nuke the Climate Coalition issued the following statement on the conclusion of the conference: “Nuclear energy confirmed itself to be a major ‘Ambition-Killer’ at COP24 this year. Most of the countries that blocked adoption of the crucial Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report absurdly and hypocritically promoted nuclear power and fossil fuels as ‘practical and realistic’ solutions to global warming. Nothing could be further from the truth. After 60 years of nuclear power, its track record and environmental impacts are clear: nuclear is too dirty, too dangerous, too expensive, and too slow to solve global warming.

Could Spain be the first NATO State to sign the Nuclear Ban Treaty?

The Spanish government struck a deal with Podemos

06.12.2018 Good news just reached us from ICAN Spain: the left-wing political party Podemos got a commitment from the Spanish government to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). However, the government has not yet announced how and when they will implement this decision. This was a result of lobbying by ICAN, IPPNW’s Spanish representative Aurora Bilbao and Carlos Umana from IPPNW Costa Rica. At a round-table on “Achieving a world without nuclear weapons,” Aurora gave a powerful presentation on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. Spain’s signature would represent a significant breakthrough for the TPNW among NATO states.

Peace Through Health

International Conference in Shiraz, Iran

27.11.2018 On November 13-16th, 2018, an International Conference on Peace Through Health was arranged by the two medical universities in Shiraz, Iran. Several IPPNW affiliate members spoke at the conference, including Dr. Leila Moein of Iranian Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR Iran), who led a presentation about the role of women in promoting Health through Peace. Dr. Arun Mitra and Dr. Shakeel-ur-Rahman of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) were also present, and talked about IDPD's accomplishments over the years, as well as the serious, ongoing health effects of uranium tailings on populations in India.

Building bridges for peace and a nuclear-weapons-free world

Report of the European Regional Meeting in Wroclaw, September 21 – 23rd, 2018

07.11.2018 50 representatives from 14 active IPPNW affiliates met in September in Wroclaw, Poland, and discussed - among other topics - a common strategy for the nuclear weapon ban treaty. Other topics were “Seeking Refuge from War”, "Climate Change and the Energy Shift", “Peace and Reconciliation in Central and Eastern Europe “ and “Arms exports and Aiming for Prevention”. It was the first time that IPPNW Europe organised a joint affiliates’ and student representatives' meeting together, and it turned out to be very inspiring and successful.

US and Russia must preserve INF Treaty, begin negotiations for nuclear abolition

24.10.2018 Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the United States will withdraw from the 1987 Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF), a decision confirmed by national security adviser John Bolton earlier this week. The following is a statement issued today by IPPNW’s executive committee.

World doctors urge world leaders to join the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

10.10.2018 Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass extermination. In light of the terrible humanitarian and environmental effects that such weapons have, doctors and scientist have always warned the global society that such weapons must never be used again, and should be abolished. This weekend (October 5-6), I had the privilege to represent IPPNW at the general assembly of the World Medical Association in Reykjavik, Iceland. The WMA is a federation of 114 national medical associations from all over the world.

Humanitarian and Environmental Concerns of Nuclear Veterans and the Impact of Fallout from French Pacific Nuclear Tests

New Zealand

Between 1952 and 1958, Aotearoa New Zealand military personnel participated in nuclear weapon tests carried out by the UK and the US, in Australia and Kiribati. Members of Aotearoa New Zealand’s armed forces were also exposed to radiation during the Allied occupation of Japan following the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and later, when protesting against France’s nuclear testing in French Polynesia. Aotearoa New Zealand nuclear veterans claim that their health, and their descendants’ health, were adversely affected by exposure to ionizing radiation. Their concerns are supported by independent medical research.

Anti-Trident March at Faslane

22.09.2018 On 22nd September Medact members tok part in the ‘Nae Nukes Anywhere’ peace rally at the Faslane Nuclear Base – home to the UK’s Trident submarines. Our Medact contingent joined hundreds of protestors on the stretch from the Peace Camp to the North Gate, and inspiring speakers included Makar Jackie Kay (Scottish poet laureate) and fellow poet, US ICAN co-ordinator and longtime friend of Medact Timmon Wallis. Medact members brought the health voice with our banners, placards and by handing out “prescriptions for nuclear disarmament” to interested members of the public.

AGM Weekend 2018

21.09.2018 Medact’s 2018 Annual General Meeting has been held in Glasgow on 21st September. The AGM followed by a speaker event organised with Medact Glasgow and Medact Scotland. The Friday began with a productive AGM - including the election of four new excellent Trustees: Professor Neena Modi, retired GP Lesley Morrison, Margaret Jackson, also a GP, and Communicable Diseases Consultant Kitty Mohan

Doctors for Peace

IPPNW affiliates of the Western Balkans Region stand up together for human rights.

21.09.2018 War and armed conflict constitute a serious threat to health, yet they are often neglected in our medical education. Researchers have long before predicted that by 2020 war will be one of the top 10 causes of disability and death. The events unfolding over the last decade globally have shown that this date has been brought forward. Health professionals are the ones, who are not only dealing with the reality of these predictions, rather they have also become victims of war, considering their role to being near those in need. On this International Day of Peace, should we as medical professionals take a stance on war? Shall we stand up for the human right to peace?

Youth-led nuclear disarmament

07.09.2018 IPPNW and IFMSA have enjoyed informal working relationships for years, and over the next month, I worked with the team at the IFMSA to create a session dubbed “Youth-led Nuclear Disarmament.” The session was going to explore how youth and students can speak against nukes as we all push governments to sign the TPNW. This opportunity reminded me of how our IPPNW founding fathers must have felt when they first united to speak against these nukes. I imagine they found seemingly insurmountable hurdles, but, like us, did not give up.

Report on meeting in Macedonia

Bridges of Understanding

31.08.2018 Since 1995, medical students from different countries of former Yugoslavia have been taking part in the IPPNW program "Bridges of Understanding". They are invited to Würzburg to serve a one-month internship at the Missionsärztliche Klinik / Juliusspital (Klinikum Würzburg Mitte). They work in various departments, staying together in the house of St. Michael near the hospital. IPPNW medical students also organised a good program for their free time.

“Tokyo 2020 – The Radioactive Olympics”

17.08.2018 In 2020, Japan is inviting athletes from around the world to take part in the Tokyo Olympic Games. We are hoping for the games to be fair and peaceful. At the same time, we are worried about plans to host baseball and softball competitions in Fukushima City, just 50 km away from the ruins of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. It was here, in 2011, that multiple nuclear meltdowns took place, spreading radioactivity across Japan and the Pacific Ocean – a catastrophe comparable only to the nuclear meltdown of Chernobyl.

Dialog between IPPNW and respresentative of French Presidency in Paris

30.07.2018 In the wake of our 18th June letter regarding the US decision to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran nuclear agreement, the office of the French Presidency received a delegation of three IPPNW representatives at Élysée Palace on Monday 30th July. His Excellency Etienne de Gonnevielle, strategic affairs councillor, condemned the US decision and shared IPPNW’s concerns about the humanitarian consequences that would result from the US reinstating sanctions upon Iran. He also revealed that President Macron’s government will continue adhering to the JCPOA alongside the European Union, UK, Russia and China and commented that the French government considers the Iran agreement to be a good model for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Los Angeles City Council Votes to Support U.N. Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty

Council honors Atomic Bomb Survivors as it endorses "Back from the Brink" Resolution

08.08.2018 Los Angeles has added its name to a growing number of individuals, organizations, and cities that are calling for the United States to take action to prevent nuclear war. On August 8, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve a resolution that urges the U.S. to embrace the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and implement important protective policies such as ending the President’s sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack, taking U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert, and canceling U.S. plans to replace its entire nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons. The resolution was introduced by Councilmembers Paul Koretz and Mike Bonin.

The 4-th International Table Tennis open Tournament in Moscow

08.08.2018 The Traditional international open tournament in Moscow, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was won by physicists. On the day of the open tournament 19 athletes-students, staff, alumni of Lomonosov Moscow state university (MSU), other Moscow universities and students from China participated. This event is originally dedicated in memory of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Atomic bomb victims of 1945, after the United States air force bombed the two cities during 6-9 August of the same year.

A journalist came to Helsinki to ask about nuclear weapons

Sam Husseini, a journalist with The Nation, was forcibly ejected from the press conference held at the conclusion of the US-Russia summit in Helsinki. A piece of paper that he held on which the words “nuclear weapon ban treaty” were written, seen briefly on video as he was being dragged from the room by Finnish security, provided a pretty big clue as to why he was unwelcome.

One Year Anniversary of Nuclear Ban Treaty

– promises to keep!

07.07.2018 In the year since it was passed at the United Nations, 59 states have signed and 12 have ratified the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Once 50 ratifications are reached, the treaty will enter into force. “Even before the Treaty enters into force, responsible financial institutions are taking note,” said IPPNW’s Dr. Tilman Ruff in the Australian Institute of International Affairs. “Since the treaty’s adoption, the Norwegian Pension Fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with assets over US$1 trillion, the largest Dutch pension fund ABP, Deutsche Bank, and major Belgian bank KBC have announced that they will exclude from their investments companies that produce nuclear weapons.”

Humanity is connected by common threats and shared benefits

17.07.2018 On 8 July 2018 Dr. Taipale delivered this address to President Trump and Putin from the balcony of the Old Student House in Helsinki, Finland: "You have awakened humanity from years of deep hibernation. And let’s not forget the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Together you have reminded the peoples of the world about the existence of nuclear weapons. The greatest threat today is not global warming but nuclear weapons and the danger of nuclear war. Your colourful speeches have let the genie out the bottle. The spirit of nuclear disarmament has escaped, and can no longer be shut away. 122 countries have signed the United Nations’ Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The sea of death

13.07.2018 The US conducted 105 atmospheric and underwater tests at its Pacific Ocean proving ground from 1946-1962. Massive amounts of radioactive fallout from those tests spread across the Pacific, causing severe health effects that have continued to this day.

One of the best-known incidents from this reckless and shameful history was the fate of the Japanese fishing boat the Lucky Dragon. Despite being 90 miles away from ground zero, all 23 crew members were covered in thick layers of fallout from the March 1, 1954 Castle Bravo explosion, which, at 15 megatons, was the largest US nuclear test. The entire crew suffered from acute radiation sickness and were hospitalized for months. One crew member died from his injuries.

18.06.2018 The national affiliates of IPPNW in France, Germany, and the UK, and IPPNW’s international leadership, have appealed to officials in the three governments to stand by the agreement that they made with Iran on their nuclear program. In a letter to President Macron, Chancellor Merkel, and Prime Minister May, reprinted here, IPPNW has urged the leaders to continue working closely with Iran’s government to ensure the obligations of the agreement continue to be met by all remaining parties to it.(June 18, 2018)

Talk given by Dr. Elizabeth Waterston

Taking the finger off the red button: De-escalating the risk of nuclear war

10.05.2018 There is general concern about the impulsive behaviour of the current President of the USA and this article addresses ways of de-escalating the danger of a nuclear exchange.

The 12 kiloton bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 caused total obliteration over a distance of 3.2 km, and fires across 11km2. Some 70-80 thousand people or 30% of the population of Hiroshima died either immediately or over the next few weeks of blast, firestorms or radiation.

Peace and Health Blog, May 8th, 2018

Trump’s reckless Iran decision increases nuclear danger

08.05.2018 IPPNW condemns the withdrawal of the United States from the international nuclear weapons agreement with Iran, announced today by Donald Trump.The decision by the US President to ignore key advisers and allies and to pull out of the nuclear agreement with Iran immediately increases the chances of new and intensified conflict in the Middle East and could provoke Iran into resuming its nuclear weapons program.The International Atomic Energy Agency has certified Iran’s compliance since 2015, when the agreement to halt all activities that could lead to development of nuclear weapons was reached with the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China, Germany, and the European Union.

Humanist Forum 2018

Achieving a world without nuclear weapons

08.05.2018 15,000 nuclear weapons remain in existence in 2018 despite the 1970 commitment by UN member States to disarm. With 100 nuclear weapons exploding on cities, a nuclear winter can be created that is capable of killing up to 2 billion human beings, saying goodbye to human civilisation as we know it in the process. With 1000 nuclear weapons we can say goodbye to the human species.

Global health leaders rally behind the Ban Treaty

30.04.2018 The International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Medical Association have issued important and very timely calls for states to join and implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. On April 23, ICRC president Peter Maurer, reiterating the ICRC’s long-standing appeal “to all States, global leaders and citizens to act on the increasing risk of the use of nuclear weapons,” said that “States should take the necessary steps to adhere to the 1972 NPT, the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and other nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation treaties to which they are not yet party and fully implement their provisions.”

Conference in Delhi, India, March 28th, 2018

India’s government seems scared of a group of Nobel Peace Prize winning doctors

28.03.2018 Over the past few days in Delhi, I’ve had the privilege of joining an international seminar titled: “The Landmark Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons: Opportunities and Challenges.” Held in the augustly named Constitution Club, the seminar was organised by Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), IPPNW’s Indian affiliate, together with the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, and the All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation. The seminar was joined by former government Minister Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, other former Members of Parliament, retired Major General Vinod Saighal, distinguished Indian scholars and campaigners for peace, medical students from across India, and prominent physicians and IPPNW leaders from Nepal and Bangladesh. IPPNW was well represented by International Student Representatives Franca Brüggen (Germany) and Kelvin Kibert (Kenya), as well as IPPNW co-presidents Ira Helfand (USA), Arun Mitra (India), and myself (Australia).

Third round of the Medical Peace Work MOOC

27.03.2018 On May 7, 2018 the University of Bergen offers a new run of our interactive MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. This MOOC will help you to understand how violence affects health and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. ICAN staff has contributed to the development of one of the six case topics.

Don't Bank on the Bomb 2018

07.03.2018 ICAN partner organization PAX has published a new edition of the landmark report detailing global investments in companies that produce nuclear weapons. The 2018 update of Don’t Bank on the Bomb shows that 329 financial institutions from around the world have invested US $525 billion into 20 companies involved in the production, maintenance and modernization of nuclear weapons in France, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States since January 2014. Fourteen country profiles provide details about nuclear-weapons-related work of identified producers and the financial institutions that support this work. On the positive side, Pax researchers found that the number of institutions that have financial relationships with nuclear weapon producers has decreased since the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Midrand, March 2, 2018

UN Programme of Action on Small Arms 3rd Review Conference: How much progress?

02.03.2018 IPPNW was among the organizations that helped pass the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons 17 years ago. At that time we were optimistic that the landmark agreement would make real inroads into achieving its goal to “reduce the human suffering caused by the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects and to enhance the respect for life and the dignity f the human person through the promotion of a culture of peace.”

Dr. Wareham awarded Canberra Rotary Peace Prize

26.02.2018 IPPNW Board member Dr. Sue Wareham has received the first Chief Minister’s Rotary Peace Prize in Canberra. Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts and Community Events, Gordon Ramsay presided over the award ceremony at the unveiling of the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell in February. Dr. Wareham called on Australia to rethink the policy of building an economy on war profiteering and having a vested interest in wars and instability. “Going to war should not be the thing that Australia is good at and the thing that Australians recognise as central to their identity,” she said.

SNDWM, Nigeria, February 13, 2018

“Service to humanity” is heartbeat of IPPNW Nigeria Radio Project

13.02.2018 The IPPNW Nigeria Radio Project has at its heartbeat “service to humanity”- creating awareness of the threat armed violence poses to health and healthy communities and providing relevant information about public health approaches to preventing armed violence, thus equipping the public with knowledge that can drive peace building in society.

A gold-plated blueprint for nuclear war

12.02.2018

You’d be hard pressed to find a stronger case for the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty than the new US Nuclear Posture Review released last week by the Trump administration.

Not that the gloomy, unreconstructed apologists for US geopolitical, economic, and military dominance who authored this frontal assault on nuclear disarmament intended to make that argument. To the contrary, after portraying a world so relentlessly hostile to US interests that only a multi-billion dollar “recapitalization” of the nuclear weapons enterprise can keep the country’s adversaries from wreaking havoc, the authors dismiss the Treaty as an unrealistic and polarizing diversion that undermines the whole principle of nuclear deterrence.

Remembering one of our founders, Dr. Victor W. Sidel

04.02.2018 We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Victor W. Sidel, a co-founder and former president of PSR, and a former co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Dr. Sidel passed away on Tuesday, January 30. We extend our sincere condolences to Dr. Sidel's family and loving friends as we remember his remarkable life.

02.02.2018 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) joins the World Medical Association in expressing grave concern over the arrests of leaders of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA).We concur with the statement of WMA President Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura, who said, in part, “The WMA fully supports our Turkish colleagues in their public statements that war is a public health problem. The WMA has clear policy that physicians and national medical associations should alert governments to the human consequence of warfare and armed conflicts.”

Nuclear Weapons - Australia stands on the wrong side of history

29.01.2018 During Senate estimates in October last year, the Australian government dug further into the deep and dark moral abyss in which it is stuck in relation to the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons.

In questioning by Tasmanian Labor Senator Lisa Singh, DFAT Assistant Secretary Richard Sadleir sought to explain the circumstances in which under Australia’s security doctrine the government regarded use of nuclear weapons as appropriate: “extended nuclear deterrence is something which comes to the fore in a situation of extreme emergency of the sort that has been referred to in terms of self-defence”. Senator Singh was appropriately appalled that there were any circumstances in which the government considered that use of nuclear weapons was appropriate.

Two minutes to midnight

26.01.2018 Citing “looming threats of nuclear war,” the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has reset the Doomsday Clock to two minutes to midnight—the closest the world has been to catastrophe since 1953.

While the Clock has come to represent the level of a number of global threats, including global warming and emerging technologies, the Bulletin attributed this year’s warning almost entirely to the urgent and growing risk of nuclear war.

French Red Cross joins French IPPNW to press government on ban treaty

25.01.2018 For the first time in France, on Thursday, January 25, the French Red Cross (CRF) organized a panel discussion at its headquarters in Paris on the issue of the Nuclear Weapons ban treaty (NWBT).

19.12.2017 On December 19th 2017 Tilman Ruff, IPPNW Co-President and also ICAN Campaigner visited the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea together with Tim Wright (ICAN), where they spoke to reporters about the urgent need for all nations to sign and ratify the nuclear ban treaty.

American, British, and French physicians condemn their governments' protest of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

04.12.2017PSR, Medact, and AMFPGM have responded jointly to the announcement by the US, UK, and French governments that they will be sending only lower level representatives to the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo on December 10. Their statement follows: We the undersigned are ashamed that our governments are insulting this year's Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, Norway on 10th December by sending only junior diplomats. The award is for ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and follows the overwhelming vote of 122 nations at the United Nations General Assembly in July this year to adopt the nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Radio project of Nigerian physicians to “bring peace to the people”

01.12.2017In November 2017, the Society of Nigerian Doctors for the Welfare of Mankind (SNDWM) started a radio programme called “Bringing Peace to the People“. The program was initiated by a group of doctors to educate the public about the effect of violence on health, to aim at preventing violence and thereby creating a peaceful Nigeria. The programme aims to address the burden of small arms violence in Nigeria. Armed conflict due to identity, religious and economic hostilities have plagued Nigeria for over a decade – a situation worsened by the advent of Boko Haram. With 3.3 million internally displaced people, Nigeria is the country with the third highest number of internally displaced people in the world.

Meeting in the Vatican: "Perspectives for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons"

12.11.2017 Speaking at an international meeting on disarmament entitled "Perspectives for a world free of nuclear weapons", organized by the Vatican, the Nobel Peace Prize winner from Argentina, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, denounced the existence of nuclear submarines on the islands Malvinas: "It is outrageous what is happening, we can talk about many international treaties against nuclear weapons, but they are not respected. In Latin America we have the treaty for the banning of nuclear weapons from Tlatelolco, but we have nuclear submarines in the Malvinas Islands, occupied by the United Kingdom," he accused.

Climate Conference: Don´t nuke the Climate

Scientists’ appeal to the COP and the UNFCCC

18.11.2017 From November 6th to 17th, 2017 the UN Climate Conference was held in Bonn, Germany. During the conference the nuclear industry was intensively lobbying for access to climate funding mechanisms such as the UN Green Climate Fund for its outdated and dangerous nuclear technology. The international campaign “Don’t nuke the climate” forwarded a letter to the German environmental minister Barbara Hendricks which was signed by 70 scientists. In this letter scientists argue that nuclear energy is not the solution to climate change: It is too dirty, too dangerous and also would take too long to be a meaningful answer to global warming.Moreover, the new nuclear power plant Hinckley Point in the UK is being built – not to solve energy problems, but to hide the costs for the British nuclear weapons program.

Demonstrators in Germany protest US, North Korea tensions

18.11.2017 On November 18, 2017 IPPNW and ICAN and the Berlin peacemovement organized a great action for the ban of nuclear weapons and asked chancellor Merkel to sign the ban treaty. 700 people built a human chain between the US embassy and the North Korean embassy. Two person dressed up as Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un together with their specific nuclear bombs which they moved all the way between the two embassies. In the Middle, in front of the Brandenburger Tor, they had to meet with UN General secretary Antonio Gutérres and chancellor Merkel. Merkel was convinced to sign the weapons ban treaty this way.

ICAN UK, October 6, 2017

Nobel Peace Prize Statement – ICAN UK – 6 October 2017

06.10.2017 ICAN UK represents the British-based NGOs who are partners of ICAN, acivil society network of over 450 organisations in one hundred countries. Dr Rebecca Johnson, an original co-chair of ICAN and member of the International Steering Group based in the UK, said: “We thank the Nobel Committee for recognising and honouring ICAN and thethousands of people in our international network that have worked so hard to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons. The nuclear threats being issued by President Trump and North Korea remind us that nuclear sabre rattling can lead to nuclear war through arrogance or miscalculation.”

Landmark nuclear ban treaty has opened for signature at UN

25.09.2017 The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted on July 7 by 122 non-nuclear-weapon states, has opened for signature on September 20 at the United Nations. Nearly 50 heads of state have announced that they will sign on the first day at the General Assembly. The ban treaty, which prohibits the possession, development, production, testing, acquisition, use, and threatened use of nuclear weapons, will enter into force once it has been ratified by 50 nations. The opening of the Signature Ceremony was webcast live on Wednesday, September 20, beginning at 8:00 am New York time. The speakers included UN Secretary General António Guterres, ICRC president Peter Maurer, and ICAN executive director Beatrice Fihn. Over 50 states have already signed the ban treaty during the first week following the opening ceremony.

23.09.2017 The leading international federations representing millions of doctors, nurses, and public health professionals have joined with IPPNW in calling for swift entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The World Medical Association, the International Council of Nurses, the World Federation of Public Health Associations, and IPPNW, in a statement released on September 18, said the treaty “completes the process of stigmatizing and delegitimizing nuclear weapons,” and urged the nuclear-armed and nuclear-dependent states to eliminate weapons “which threaten the security of everyone….The establishment of a new international norm prohibiting nuclear weapons,” the organizations concluded, “is a crucial step toward their elimination, but it is only a first step.” The WMA, the ICN, and the WFPHA collaborated with IPPNW last year on a joint working paper that presented the health and environmental evidence in support of the ban treaty process.

19.09.2017 A four-day international conference of doctors, lawyers, scientists and nuclear experts from 27 countries concluded in Basel yesterday with the release of the Basel Declaration on human rights and trans-generational crimes resulting from nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.

The declaration draws from the scientific evidence presented to the conference, and the application of international law, to conclude that:

'the risks and impacts of nuclear weapons, depleted uranium weapons and nuclear energy, which are both transnational and trans-generational, constitute a violation of human rights, a transgression of international humanitarian and environmental law, and a crime against future generations.'

13.09.2017 Participants in IPPNW’s 22nd World Congress arrived at York University in the UK to news that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had conducted a test of what it said was a hydrogen bomb on September 3. The new nuclear test, along with recent tests of intercontinental and medium-range missiles, were seen as a response to joint military exercises by the US and South Korea, and added to heightened tensions in the region. IPPNW issued a statement from the Congress on September 5, calling on the US and the DPRK “to enter into direct negotiations without preconditions to resolve this dangerous crisis.

Peace and Health Blog, September 5, 2017

IPPNW hails ban treaty as “milestone for nuclear abolition”

05.09.2017 “Health Through Peace 2017,” the joint Medact forum and 22nd IPPNW World Congress, was a resounding success. More than 400 participants from the UK and from IPPNW’s global network of affiliates gathered at York University for three days of in-depth discussions about the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the impacts of armed violence on health and security, and the role of health professionals in building a medical peace movement. The Congress statement, read by co-president Tilman Ruff during the opening plenary, celebrated the achievement of the ban treaty: “With this powerful new legal, moral, and political tool in hand, we can increase the pressure on the nuclear-armed and nuclear-dependent states and bring them into compliance with the Treaty through the complete and irreversible elimination of all nuclear weapons, delivery systems, and infrastructure. Only then will we achieve our goal of abolishing nuclear weapons as the only sure way to prevent nuclear war.”

Peace and Health Blog, August 28, 2017

Faslane to York: The “Health Through Peace” bike tour

28.08.2017 A group of medical students and doctors from all over the world (Kenya, India, Pakistan, Germany, Nepal, Nicaragua and Russia) came together here in Scotland today to cycle to this year’s “Health Through Peace” conference and IPPNW Congress in York. On the way they aim to discuss global nuclear disarmament, causes of conflicts and weapons, and the effects on individual and public health with people they meet on the way.

Online Course Medical Peace Work

Successful MPW MOOC

24.08.2017 2.200 students participated in the first round of the MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. The course included two hours of training per week and helped to understand how violence affects health in multiple ways and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. Many participants came from UK, Germany, Canada, USA, Kenya etc.

The political determinants of the cholera outbreak in Yemen

18.08.2017 At the end of June, 2017, UNICEF and WHO released a statement declaring that Yemen is “facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world”.1 The statement points out that the outbreak is caused by the civil war that began in 2015, but it does not suggest that one party is more responsible than another, simply noting that “two years of heavy conflict” have resulted in “collapsing health, water and sanitation systems”. Nor does it point to one side being more affected by the outbreak, stating that “cholera has spread to almost every governorate”.

Medicine, Conflict and Survival, August 9,2017

Healing under fire – medical peace work in the field

09.08.2017 On August 9, 2017, the journal „Medicine, Conflict and Survival“ published the article „Healing under fire – medical peace work in the field“ from Louisa Chan Boegli and Maria Gabriella Arcadu. Both authors have been instrumental in defining and launching the World Health Organisation´s Health as a Bridge to Peace programme in the 1990s, and are now involved in the MPW partner organization 4Change, whose focus is on the education of health professionals in reducing violence and performing peacebuilding actions. In their article, Louisa Chan Boegli and Maria Gabriella Arcadu write about lessons from a project in Southern Thailand and three asessments carried out in Myanmar, along the Syrian Borders and in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Peace & Health Blog, August 9, 2017

North Korea crisis: Reckless threats from both sides must stop

10.08.2017 The already dangerous crisis in Korea has escalated further with the reckless rhetoric emanating from both the United States and the Democratic Republic of Korea. The wild threats issued by both sides only inflame an already explosive situation. If acted on they could lead directly to the death of tens of millions of people in both countries and beyond their borders. They must stop.

25.07.2017 The world now has an international treaty making it illegal for ratifying states to possess any nuclear weapons. Yet the UK continues to keep and modernise its nuclear weapons at huge cost and risk to life, and is increasingly seen as out of step with the rest of the world.

On July 7th 2017 the UN General Assembly adopted, by a vote of 122 to 1, the text of a legally binding ‘instrument’ to prohibit nuclear weapons.

IPPNW, July 7, 2017

We Just Banned Nuclear Weapons!

07.07.2017 History was made at the United Nations today when the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted by an overwhelming 122-1 vote by UN Member States determined to provide a legal basis for the elimination of the world’s worst weapons of mass destruction.The ban treaty, negotiated by more than 140 states under the auspices of the UN General Assembly, prohibits development, testing, production, manufacture, acquisition, possession, stockpiling, use, and threat of use of nuclear weapons, and provides flexible pathways for nuclear-armed and nuclear-dependent states to comply with the prohibitions once they decide to join.

Jef de Loof passes away

07.07.2017 It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Jef De Loof, founding father and president of the Flemish Belgian affiliate. Jef died peacefully at home after a short disease, at the age of 90, on July 7th, the day the Nuclear Ban Treaty was adopted in the UN. Jef dedicated his life to peace and to the abolition of nuclear weapons, with unrelenting commitment and energy. He always advocated non-violent conflict resolution on every level, from family to world politics. We will miss him very much but he will continue to inspire us. We offer our deepest condolences to his wife Rita and to his family.

Peace & Health Blog, July 1, 2017

Round the home turn towards adoption of a strong ban treaty on 7 July

01.07.2017 On Wednesday 26 June, the UN conference to negotiate a treaty banning nuclear weapons undertook the first read-through of a revised draft treaty text prepared by the conference president, Costa Rican ambassador Elayne Whyte. Now two weeks into this final round, many in the room expressed some frustration at this further exchange of positions and views. With the clock ticking towards the conference end and target date for adoption of an agreed treaty text on 7 July, many delegates expressed their desire to get stuck into negotiating treaty text, paragraph by paragraph, line by line.

IPPNW ENews, June 2017

Ban Treaty negotiations head to finish line!

29.06.2017 More than 125 nations are completing negotiations on a new treaty to ban nuclear weapons at the UN. IPPNW and ICAN are in the room as full civil society participants, advocating for the strongest possible language to condemn nuclear weapons and to create the legal and moral foundation for their complete elimination.

Two billion reasons to ban nuclear weapons

29.06.2017 The humanitarian case for prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons has been built upon the scientific evidence about medical and environmental consequences. IPPNW has brought that evidence into all three inter-governmental "humanitarian impacts" conferences and into the UN Working Group that preceded the historic negotiations on the Ban Treaty.

On June 26, IPPNW organized an event at the UN negotiations, at which co-president Dr. Ira Helfand and science advisor Prof. Alan Robock of Rutgers University reinforced the findings that a limited nuclear exchage, as might occur between India and Pakistan, would severely disrupt the global climate and agriculture and result in a nuclear famine, placing as many as two billion people at risk of starvation. The draft text of the Treaty warns that the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons have “grave implications for human survival, the environment…[and] food security.”

Peace & Health Blog, June 27, 2017

The Bomb and Us

27.06.2017 As I write this, a nuclear ban treaty is within reach. And yet, the optimism I should be feeling is tempered by the knowledge of the people, lands, waters, cultural traditions, and innocence that have been lost to the scourge of nuclear weapons.

On Sunday afternoon, June 18, during an ICAN strategy and planning meeting, many voiced opinions on various aspects of the ban treaty. There was much discussion about the victims of nuclear testing, with Roland Oldham (President of Moruroa e Tatou) offering the perspective of the inhabitants of French Polynesia. At the conclusion of the meeting, Roland offered the booklet “Moruroa La Bombe et Nous” to anyone interested. He seemed apologetic as he admitted that it was available only in French.

Thus began my virtual journey to French Polynesia.

Discussing peace, health and nuclear weapons in the UK

29.06.2017 The joint MEDACT Forum and IPPNW World Congress will be held September 4-6, 2017, at the University of York, United Kingdom. In addition to a packed program during the main Forum/Congress, the IPPNW International Council and Board of Directors meetings will be held on Sunday, Sept 3 and on Thursday, Sept 7.

IPPNW Germany, June 12, 2017

International Symposium "Nuclear Weapon Ban: A European Point of View" in Büchel, Germany

12.06.2017 The second round of negotiations for a UN nuclear weapon ban is scheduled to start next Thursday, 15th June, in New York with more than 130 states taking part. Germany will not be one of them. Hoping to raise more public awareness for the ban, the German affiliate of the IPPNW (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) organised an international symposium “Nuclear Weapon Ban: A European Point of View” on Sunday in Büchel, a military base in the west of Germany where US nuclear weapons are located, with 70 participants.

Human Rights, Future Generations and Crimes in the Nuclear Age Congress in Basel, Switzerland

09.06.2017 The Swiss IPPNW, the Association of Swiss Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament, the International Centre for Comparative Environmental Law (CIDCE), the Uranium Network as well as the Basel Peace Office are organising an international congress on the topic of Human Rights, Future Generations and Crimes in the Nuclear Age, which will take place at the University of Basel from 14th to 17th September 2017. Bringing together lawyers, physicians and experts on nuclear weapons as well as victims of nuclear accidents and nuclear testing, the congress aims to create an interdisciplinary dialogue about topics that are especially relevant in these times of increased geopolitical tension and uncertainty.

ICAN, May 21, 2017

Draft UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Released

21.05.2017 The first draft of the United Nations treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons was released in Geneva, Switzerland, on 22 May. Elayne Whyte Gómez, the Costa Rican ambassador who is presiding over negotiations of the historic accord, presented the text to diplomats and members of civil society, before answering questions from the media.

IPPNW statement on Korea crisis

28.04.2017 The persistent tensions on the Korean peninsula are rapidly escalating into a crisis fueled by mutual fears, provocations, and the volatile temperaments of two unpredictable, nuclear-armed heads of state. The current US administration seems determined to “resolve” the situation through shows of force and military threats. The government of Kim Jong-un is accelerating its efforts to test and build nuclear weapons and missiles, while promising “massive” retaliation should the US follow through on those threats.

Battle for Mosul

How the Jiyan Foundation is helping traumatized victims

10.04.2017 Bloodshed and Despair: Fleeing the Battle for Mosul

In 2014, when the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) attacked Sinjar, the Nineveh plains and the city of Mosul, about one million people were displaced within few weeks. The situation has become more severe since October 2016, when the Iraqi army, Peshmerga forces, allied militias and the international coalition launched an operation to retake Mosul. In fact, the number of security incidents has quadrupled, causing fear among civilians, large-scale destruction and displacement, and leaving people with nothing to go back to.

International Symposium on Global Security in Moscow

Letter to Dmitri Medvedev

07.03.2017 On February 21th, an international delegation of IPPNW physicians visited Moscow and met with Russian IPPNW the Russian Pugwash Committee at a symposium on Global Security in the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). On this special occasion, the IPPNW US and Russian Co-Presidents personally delivered a letter to Russia's Prime Minister Medvedev. In this letter they urge him to join the negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons and to provide leadership for this process.

Nobel Peace Laureates: Time to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons is now!

The following statement from 21 Nobel Peace Laureates was released at the conclusion of the 16th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Bogota, Colombia.

05.02.2017 On March 27, negotiations will commence at the United Nations for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. As Nobel Peace Laureates we applaud the UN General Assembly for convening this negotiating conference, fully support its goals, and urge all nations to work for the speedy conclusion of this treaty in 2017 and for its rapid entry into force and implementation.

24.01.2017 IPPNW welcomes the statement by Chinese President Xi Jinping that “nuclear weapons … should be completely prohibited and destroyed over time to make the world free of them.” President Xi’s remarks, made during a speech on January 18 at the United Nations in Geneva, were consistent with China’s long-standing official support for nuclear disarmament, and come as the UN is preparing to convene negotiations on a new treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons.

China gave a positive signal at the UN General Assembly last month, unlike its other P5 partners, when it abstained from, rather than voting against, a resolution authorizing negotiations for a treaty banning nuclear weapons. The resolution was carried by a majority of over three to one.

A peace agenda for the new administration

17.01.2017 The looming advent of the Trump administration in Washington threatens to worsen an already deeply troubling international situation. Bitter wars are raging, tens of millions of refugees have taken flight, relations among the great powers are deteriorating, and a new nuclear arms race is underway. Resources that could be used to fight unemployment, poverty, and climate change are being lavished on the military might of nations around the world―$1.7 trillion in 2015 alone. The United States accounts for 36 percent of that global total.

Given this grim reality, let us consider an alternative agenda for the new administration―an agenda for peace.

Why nuclear energy is not an answer to global warming

Talk from Dr. Alex Rosen, Medact-Conference

16.12.2016 On December 9th, Dr. Alex Rosen, Vice-President of IPPNW Germany, was invited to talk on the subject of nuclear energy and climate change at the MedAct Conference "Healthy Planet - Better World". The subject of his talk was "Why nuclear power ist not an answer to global warming". In it, he argued that nuclear power was not a good investment and that the true and long-term costs and effects of nuclear power far outweigh its potential short-term benefits. He named the detrimental effects of uranium mining and nuclear waste on the environment an on public health and listed the most relevant studies on the effects of uranium mining and civil nuclear energy on childhood leukemia, lung cancer and other radiation-related diseases.